Gęčokaxʔa
Gęčokaxʔa, literally "our language", is a polysynthetic language. Phonology Consonants Consonants are romanised as in IPA unless stated otherwise. Vowels Ogoneks indicate nasal vowels. Diphthongs consist of any vowel+i or u. /ii/ and /uu/ are however not possible. Phonotactics The general syllable structure is CV©, without any restrictions on what consonants can appear as onset or coda. Geminated consonants are however impossible; wherever any would occur due to affixation, it becomes a single consonant. Furthermore, adjacent plosives have to agree in voicing, just like nasals have to agree in POA with adjacent consonants. Stress and pitch The primary stress always falls on the first syllable of the main root (usually that's the verb root, but in nouns it's the first noun root). Secondary stress falls on incorporated noun roots, pronominal suffixes, and negative and interrogative suffixes. Primary stress is realised as an increase in both volume and pitch, while secondary stress is realised as an increase in pitch only. Grammar Aspect An oddity of Gęčokaxʔa morphology is that there are two types of aspect markers: a prefix indicating inceptive/cessative aspect and a suffix indicating perfect/imperfect. These can be left out and combined to form a total of nine aspects. The aspect markers are: * męk- (inceptive) * ča- (cessative) * -ʔin (perfect) * -mi (imperfect) Pronominal suffixes There is also an indefinite suffix -ʔąʔ, which can only be used as subject. When the object is unknown, it is simply left out. These suffixes can be attached to nouns as well, which in English would mean "X is a Y". However, if the pronominal suffix is followed by the possessive suffix -ʔa, it means "X's Y". Noun incorporation Nouns can be incorporated into the verb. Depending on their placement, incorporated nouns can serve as either a subject or an object. Incorporated subjects follow the verb root; objects precede it. Negatives and questions Negatives and questions are made with the suffixes -ki and -loh respectively. Subordination A verb can be subordinated by adding the prefix čiuhę-. A subordinated verb can be attached to a noun to form a relative clause. Numerals and quantifiers These behave like prefixes, thus one can say ląikmot for "one fish" and kiląifat for "four bears". Examples Čakaʔinþųloh? ča-kaʔ-ʔin-þų-loh stop-know-PERF-1SG-Q Have I forgotten anything? Hupotʔalęxčočʔinaupotʔaki. hu-pot-ʔa-lęxčoč-ʔin-nau-pot-ʔa-ki brother-2SG-POSS-eat-PERF-father-2SG-POSS-NEG Your father hasn't eaten your brother. Čuičiuhęnauþųʔahe kaʔhe čiuhęgęčokaxʔamękaʔimpot. čui-čiuhę-nau-þų-ʔa-he kaʔ-he čiuhę-gęčo-kax-ʔa-męk-kaʔ-ʔin-pot man-SUBORD-father-1SG-POSS-3SG know-3SG SUBORD-language-1PL-POSS-start-know-PERF-2SG The man who is my father knows that you've learnt our language. Lexicon bek v'' to be sad '''bįnol' n'' king, leader, chief '''bǫj' n'' water 'čui''' n'' man, human '''dąuku' v'' to be blue '''fat' n'' bear '''fiki' n'' fool, idiot '''gai' n'' sun '''gęčo' n'' language '''goč' n'' house '''hąči' v'' to love '''heu' v'' to drink '''hu' n'' brother '''hųlų' n'' food '''jeiš' n'' sea '''kaʔ' v'' to know '''kal' n'' boy '''laj' n'' mother '''laišpǫ' n'' moon '''lęxčoč' v'' to eat '''lui' v'' to live, to be alive '''kiþu' v'' to be big '''mąki' v'' to greet '''mot' n'' fish '''nau' n'' father '''noxpat' n'' beer, wine 'ŋox''' v'' to see '''sįč' v'' to be white '''soh' v'' to be good 'šąla''' v'' to be happy 'šouš''' n'' god, spirit, deity '''tąkau' v'' to be strange '''toþ' n'' child '''xaʔ' v'' to be yellow 'þǫbąš''' n'' stone 'ʔalkoʔol''' n'' alcohol 'ʔeþ''' n sister